Some patients do not inform healthcare professionals of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) because they fear termination of aggressive medication therapies. Preferences for aggressive medication therapies may differ between patients and pharmacists. The goal of this study was to estimate whether pharmacists were able to accurately assess patient preference for aggressive medication therapies with potentially stronger ADRs. A cross-sectional study was conducted of hospitalized patients (35 to 74 years of age) receiving oral medications for a chronic disease or systemic chemotherapy at three hospitals in Japan. We estimated the extent of agreement between patient responses and pharmacist predictions using a scenario-based investigation (1) to examine the choice between an aggressive medication therapy and the standard therapy, and (2) to assess increased life expectancy as a result of aggressive medication therapy. The extent of agreement was estimated using the kappa statistic. Of 113 patients, 43 (38.1%) chose the aggressive medication therapy. Pharmacists correctly predicted the choice of 25 (58.1%) of these patients [kappa 0.32 (95% confidence interval 0.15-0.50)]. Of 111 patients, 42 (37.8%) expected one additional life expectancy year. However, pharmacists predicted that as many as 36 (85.7%) of these patients would require more years of added life expectancy before choosing an aggressive medication therapy [kappa 0.24 (0.08-0.40)]. Agreement between patients and pharmacists on the choice of aggressive medication therapy was generally poor. Pharmacists should make an effort to identify patients who might prefer more aggressive medication therapies with potentially stronger ADRs in order to minimize ADR risk.
Keywords: adverse reaction; communication; medication therapy management; patient preference; pharmacist; professional-patient relation.